"DAMN IT!!!" The frustrated roar tore from Captain Hektor's throat as his team skidded to a halt. It was still too late. The Centaur Clan Professionals could only watch helplessly as the two human assassins completely vanished from sight, their perfect stealth leaving no trace on the open plains. Chasing them now was a death sentence; unless marked or approached within inches, their elusive quarry could escape in any direction they pleased.
Hektor's eyes were bloodshot, his killing intent an absolute, unbearable physical weight. "How dare they!" he ground out, surveying the horrific scene: over thirty bodies of his kin's children, sprawled in pools of blood, their eyes wide open in the terrifying shock of sudden death. The sight was a veritable Corpse Mountain Blood Sea. For the humans, this was strategic warfare; for the Centaurs, this was a violation of the sacred future of the clan. The raw grief and rage threatened to make them all turn on one another.
As the frenzy peaked, someone screamed, "Captain! Here! The other side left a message!"
"What? Where?!" Hektor's head snapped up. A Centaur member, tears streaking his dust-caked face, pointed at the final body. "On this child's body—carved!"
They rushed over. Hektor's pupils constricted violently as he stared at the bloody, vigorous characters carved into the last youth's flank: 'The Horse Slayers, Paradise!'
The Horse Slayers... Paradise?
A collective stunned silence broke into fresh, furious recognition. "It's them! Those two human Epic Professionals that Lord Lulufu mentioned! They… they left their name?!" The audacity was unprecedented.
Just then, a thunderous sound heralded the arrival of the second Centaur team from the east. The returning Centaurs, Carlyle and Piper among them, froze instantly. They stared wide-eyed at the new slaughter. "Hektor! What happened?!"
He corrected his temporary lapse in control, gripping his spear. "It's humans! Damn them, not content with killing over forty near the Gloomy Jungle, they dare to chase us all the way to the very gates of Xiwa City?!"
The returning Centaurs, already numb from the first tragedy, went completely mad. Their words made Hektor's entire unit freeze: "Wait—you mean… they killed other clan members too?"
The newcomers nodded grimly. They had turned back from the Gloomy Jungle after discovering the first massacre and were on their way to report to the city-guarding clan members when they ran into the second, more shocking site.
"Who exactly is it?! Who exactly is it?!" The rage was so profound it became paralyzing.
"It's Paradise," Hektor bit out, pointing to the chilling signature.
'The Horse Slayers, Paradise!'
The name became a rallying cry and an instant target for their collective, maniacal fury. "Damn Paradise! Don't let us find them, or we'll tear them to shreds!!!"
After a long, suffocating moment, one of the veterans managed to regain a sliver of military focus. "Anger is useless. The key is, what is the next command?" Their minds began to function again, dragging their emotions back under control.
Carlyle, gritting his teeth, took charge. "This is beyond our rank. The assault on our capital's doorstep changes everything. We must inform Lord Titus immediately. He needs to make the decision." He took out his communicator, dialing the secure command line, praying their forces hadn't already engaged in a hopeless battle at the Gloomy Jungle. The stakes had just been irrevocably raised from a regional skirmish to a political crisis bordering on open war. The two assassins had successfully ignited the powder keg.
"Brother, where are we going now?"
In the distance, still held in the perfect shroud of stealth, Thalia's small face was radiant with joy. The immense stress of the past two days—being hunted, watching human professionals die—was finally broken. Seeing the enemy's impotent, desperate rage was an immense catharsis. It was like drinking ice-cold cola in the dog days of summer, refreshing from head to toe. Serves them right! Let's see who dies next time! The young girl thought, feeling utterly exhilarated.
Vincent glanced toward the enraged Centaurs, his gaze calm, almost academic. "Continue," he said simply.
"Still continuing?" Thalia was startled, looking at him in surprise. She thought they would pull back now that they had successfully drawn the main Centaur force away.
"If we're not going to fight, then don't. But if we're going to fight, we have to make them pay a punitive cost," Vincent explained, his expression calm, his eyes narrowed in cold calculation. "The Centaur Clan is so consistently arrogant because they are certain that, given the diplomatic fragility, we will always choose to let things go. They believe the cost of harassing us is effectively zero."
"Those important human figures consider the bigger picture—the balance of power, the resource truce—which is understandable. But we're not important figures," he continued, the low hum of his voice emphasizing his lethal philosophy. "We are going to repay every grievance, so that the next time they see the name Paradise, even if they know our exact location, they will have to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on whether the resulting carnage is worth the effort."
His eyes were clear and unwavering. "The cost of acting is too low; they'll take a shot whether there's a good chance or not. We need to let them know that the cost of acting is now ruinously high. Therefore: continue."
Vincent's words galvanized Thalia. Her eyes sparkling, she nodded repeatedly. "Okay! Today, we'll truly make the Centaur Clan hurt! So where to now? Back to the Gloomy Jungle to help the human side?"
Vincent shook his head. "The Centaur leaders, Titus and Lulufu, are now converging on the Gloomy Jungle. Our job there is done—the threat is contained, and the main forces are fully engaged. We won't get involved in that messy, politically charged battle."
He tapped a finger on his mask. "Let's go near the Sky Serpent Secret Realm."
Thalia paused, her expression clouding with concern. "But around the Sky Serpent Secret Realm... there are many Centaur powerhouses stationed there. It's their strategic resource hub, isn't it? We could run into a Tier 3 there."
"We won't enter the Secret Realm," Vincent reassured her. "We'll just wait outside along the supply routes. The Centaur youths who went in earlier are now completing their promotion quests. There should be a constant stream of newly promoted Tier 1 Professionals leaving the area."
He smiled faintly, a predatory glint in his eyes. "Newly promoted Tier 1s shouldn't be a problem. We'll intercept and kill them. If we see a true powerhouse, we retreat instantly. Sun Tzu's Art of War is clear: avoid the strong, attack the weak. This isn't about 'bullying the weak and fearing the strong;' it's about attacking the opponent's weak logistical and morale points. We are not foolish enough to challenge a Tier 3 Knight directly."
He briefly activated his communicator. The recipient was out of service, so he sent a brief, encrypted text message instead. "It's nothing, just a note to an old acquaintance to check on the situation. Let's go." Only then did Vincent take the clearly somewhat puzzled Thalia's hand, and the two masters of stealth changed course, heading toward the heavily guarded, yet strategically vulnerable, Sky Serpent Secret Realm.
Simultaneously, the political maneuvering had dissolved entirely into bloodshed.
At the Gloomy Jungle command post, Lord Titus—the burly Centaur Knight, his eyes completely red from the reports of the twin massacres—let out a primal, terrifying roar that shook the trees. He had just hung up the phone after receiving the final confirmation of the attack on the city's doorstep.
"Humans, you want to provoke a racial war, and we will grant it to you!"
"KILL THEM ALL!!!"
The human Professionals of the Combat Affairs Department, having received the high-priority direct order from General Alistair not to retreat, were on high alert. Director Zheng stood firm at the center.
"If you want to fight, then fight! How can we humans be afraid?! KILL!!!"
The human forces, instead of retreating immediately, engaged the Centaur vanguard head-on. The air immediately filled with the sound of grinding stone, explosive mana, and the terrible ringing of metal on metal.
At the same time, an even larger war party of the Centaur Clan arrived outside the Gloomy Jungle, led by none other than Lord Lulufu, the man consumed by the desire to avenge Vera. He heard the sounds of fierce fighting from within the jungle, and his expression hardened in stunned surprise.
They actually started fighting? Lulufu thought, stunned that the cowardly humans had not instantly fled. Did that fool Titus manage to corner those two Epic Professionals?
The thought sent a spike of red-hot fury and eagerness through him. The chance to avenge his beloved was right before him. He turned and roared to his troops: "SPEED UP! Crush them beneath our hooves!"
The Centaur warriors, sensing the final confrontation, responded with excited, guttural bellows, accelerating into the jungle.
However, right behind them, another group of human Professionals also accelerated. Leading them was Silas. Silas's team, tasked with monitoring Lulufu's movements, realized the moment the Centaur war leader moved that the situation was critical. They had confirmed the twin massacres and knew the local conflict had just exploded.
Silas's gaze was solemn, fixed on the billowing dust ahead. "Long Reach City and Xiwa City have officially started fighting. This is it. We'll also speed up our support."
Yuna and the other Professionals beside him took a deep, unifying breath, their eyes filled with surging, cold battle intent. They had been waiting for this. They accelerated and quickly converged on the Gloomy Jungle, crashing into the flank of the Centaur assault.
The second, politically explosive, small-scale two-race war had officially erupted, with both sides' main regional commanders now fully committed to the battle—a battle that Vincent and Thalia had strategically manufactured to cover their continued, deeper infiltration. The Horse Slayers had successfully drawn the blood of the enemy's heart.